[CCFG]

and I guess with "GMTV2" attached too, which I guess is back on ITV2 now having moved to CITV previously.

When the CITV Channel closed, ITV handed back two licenses to Ofcom, and due to *that* a few years ago, it can't be some sort of Irish version. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the second license could be the ex-GMTV2 license. (As it was technically a different channel, just on the same EPG number as the actual CITV Channel)

[Keith]

ITV and STV seem happy to maintain the status quo even though there might be some logic in adjusting the slot to 5.30am-9am.

I guess with the upcoming renewal of licences the breakfast slot remains a separate licence, presumably with the same time slot - and I guess with "GMTV2" attached too, which I guess is back on ITV2 now having moved to CITV previously.

It does feel like one of those oddities, where arguably it would make more sense for OFCOM to axe the separate breakfast licence and merge that time slot into all of the remaining franchises. Presumably most of the regional licences only exist for the purpose of local news, otherwise it could be simplified to just licences for each nation (plus crown dependencies).

[what]

Speaking of licenses, do ITV still have to pay the franchise fees from the 1993 contracts, or has that been abandoned at one of the renewals?

[JAS84]

I think they've been negotiated down to a lower price over the years? Which really shows how they overbid in the first place (a couple of regions would've gone bust by 1994 if they hadn't been bought out by others I think).

[Neil Jones]

I think they've been negotiated down to a lower price over the years? Which really shows how they overbid in the first place (a couple of regions would've gone bust by 1994 if they hadn't been bought out by others I think).

Cut significantly since 1993.
In some cases by half if not more a few years down the line.

Bruce Gyngell famously predicted Sunrise (later GMTV) would be bankrupt by 1994.

[eyeTV]

When the licenses were auto-renewed in 2014 Ofcom introduced a nominal £10k payment per licence per annum (for ITV & C5).

So ITV were paying £140k per annum for their licences (inc Breakfast). STV £20k.

For the renewal period 01 January 2025 - 31 December 2034, Ofcom are proposing £1,000 per annum. So much better terms for the ITV / C5 this time around.

www.ofcom.org.uk 

Determination of financial terms for the Channel 3 and Channel 5 licences - Ofco…
We have decided to renew the Channel 3 and Channel 5 licences for a further ten …
  Source: www.ofcom.org.uk

[James2001]

A world away from the £20-40 million that some had to pay in 1993.

[Neil Jones]

Wow, so they're paying practically nothing from next year!

[James2001]

Bruce Gyngell famously predicted Sunrise (later GMTV) would be bankrupt by 1994.

Which they probably would have been if they weren't allowed to reduce their payments to less than what TV-am bid quite quickly. Then on the other hand it ended up being shown that TVS probably could have afforded the massive amount they bid (even though they did bid 20 million more than they needed to). And of course Central bid a paltry £2,000 because nobody went against them. You really do realise quite quickly what a shambles that franchise round was. So much overbidding and underbidding, subjective quality thresholds and cutting the payments after a few years anyway, it certainly didn't deliver the best for the viewer.

[Brekkie]

I assume ITV/C5 are responsible for their own transmission costs, although don't they have gifted space on the Freeview muxes by being a PSB which would be worth way more than £1k or £10k a year - and certainly a few years ago worth more than £10m a year too.

Agree the 1990s round was a shambles - I imagine there were a few legal challenges, or at least the threat of them, from losing bidders when the ITC just reduced the amount the winners ended up paying.

Although it is somewhat understandable now that the ITV regional licences are just renewed there could still be an argument they'd be value in auctioning off the breakfast slot, though with the current state of the news market it is a case of be careful what you wish for. I guess effectively the C5 licence has been in the hands of three differrent owners too without ever being put out to tender again.